<p>hi </p>
<p>I got accepted to WashU and UIUC for Electrical Engineering program, and I'm still waiting for UMich. </p>
<p>I know that UIUC has a far better engineering program, especially EE, but I like Wash U better mostly because of the student body. I've seen many incompetent kids who went to UIUC, and I think I won't be able to concentrate on academics in UIUC.</p>
<p>I'm also planning to get a master's degree from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, or Caltech, so as to specialize my major. Would the quality of undergraduate engineering program really matter?</p>
<p>If I go to WashU, I would try to do double major with finance or marketing. So this would be advantage.</p>
<p>Where should I go? or Where would you go? Which method would work better if I want to become an engineer?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Do you have the financial aid packages? What are the differences in out of pocket costs for your choices?</p>
<p>If costs are similar, then choose for the environment you like better.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply</p>
<p>No I’m an international student, so I could not even apply to the financial aid packages. Money would be a big factor, since my family has to pay similar amount wherever I go.</p>
<p>I’m also thinking about transferring to UCB or Cornell. Would it be hard to transfer if I have decent SATs and good grades from UIUC or Wash U.</p>
<p>In terms of job market, what school would look better? If I go to graduate school, would it still matter? or Would it be easier to go to one of those graduates school from Wash U or UIUC?</p>
<p>
Don’t get caught up in the prestige of Berkeley or Cornell for engineering. Illinois and Michigan are just as respected…Wash U is a good school too, but less renowned in engineering. I would choose for the campus environment you prefer, and enjoy my time there without worrying about transferring. </p>
<p>UMich - college town, Big Ten sports, great all around academics, lots of students, maybe more of an international presence.</p>
<p>WashU - smaller school, more personalized attention, hear they have great facilities/dorms, less renowned for engineering but still strong academics/student body.</p>
<p>UIUC - college town - more rural, Big Ten sports but a bit less “rah, rah” than Michigan, great engineering programs, more compact campus than UMich, lots of students, maybe less international presence.</p>
<p>A visit to each campus would help immensely, IMO.</p>
<p>
UIUC = WashU = UMich</p>
<p>However, if you want to work as an engineer, I believe UIUC and UMich will be more widely recruited by engineering companies than WashU…check out WashU’s career center to see.</p>
<p>
No, if you have strong grades and test scores from either school, it doesn’t really matter.
Engineering is a very egalitarian field. The college prestige doesn’t matter that much.</p>
<p>I’m having the same problem as well!
Everyone is telling my that the EE program at UIUC is great and everything. But I mean the student body is just not as impressive as at WUSTL. Also due to the size of UIUC, there is really not that much personal attention until your junior year…
But WUSTL’s EE program is just not that great (from what I heard). There are only 100 kids in EE (all four years)…they did posted their grad school placement: there were Caltech, MIT, Stanford, etc. But I’m afraid that these were just the one or two cases…</p>
<p>Bump!!~~</p>
<p>Calling for insights for WUSTL!</p>
<p>^I’m probably majoring in EE as well, and I just got back from WUSTL yesterday. I must say that I was quite impressed; they may not be renowned for engineering, but when I took the engineering tour, the facilities were awesome. Being a small dept. may be good, because you receive more attention catered to you. Also, it sounds like the career center can help you find an internship anywhere in the country. Everyone, and I mean everyone, I met was extremely friendly and loved Wash U. One guy just randomly said, “Welcome to Wash U!” as I was walking through campus. I still think Wash U’s stronger overall rep will be of more help, and the extreme flexibility of the majors is drawing me to Wash U.</p>
<p>^Well, I personally care more about the grad school placement than job placement. Mostly because I know that people at Wash U are really nice.
And I was just looking at the grad students list of EECS at Stanford and Berkeley: There was only ONE WashU alumni who went to Stanford and there was zero alum going to Berkeley…as far as I saw (some of the grad students don’t have a page).
Is the career center really that good? I heard that it’s not very great…and the intership and job opportunities are mostly confined within St.Louis area.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the reply! ^_^</p>
<p>To the OP. You stated that you didn’t think you’d be able to focus on academics at UIUC. I think at all the schools you listed, you will find people who don’t care about classes that much and people who have a diligent work ethic. So, if you surround yourself with the latter people at UIUC, you won’t be distracted much from academics. I’ve been to the campus, and know people there, and there are definitely groups of very intelligent hard-working people that associate with each other. And if you stay in the one dorm with all the other engineers, you should be fine (the vast majority of engineering admits that I know are the farthest thing from slackers). So addressing your original concern, yes, there are probably more academics at UMich or WUSTL, but as long as you surround yourself with the right people and environment, it really shouldn’t matter.</p>
<p>When I got into schools, my favorite among them was Wash U. Beautiful campus, really nice, smart kids, and a general “feel good” vibe. That being said, Wash U is not a very strong engineering school, and I could justify paying the extra 27 thousand/yr to go there. </p>
<p>Go to UIUC. Its better than Michigan and much better than Wash U. Believe me the kids going to UIUC engineering aren’t less competent than WashU. I know like 8 kids that turned down Wash U for UIUC engineering, myself one of them. Just take a look at the student profile of UIUC engineers. Be careful not to confuse selectivity with prestige and reputation of a college. </p>
<p>If you live in Illinois there’s no point in going to Michigan to an inferior engineering school and paying out of state tuition. UIUC and Mich are much better recruited than Wash U, ESPECIALLY for EE.</p>
<p>Also, side note; I too planned on transferring after a year or two. After a year at UIUC I will not transfer anywhere. UIUC is way too much fun and provides SO many opportunities for students it wouldn’t make much sense to transfer anywhere.</p>
<p>I would like to say that NwestvWashU is a little misleading in that he acts like UIUC is much better than UMich. Really, as a UIUC graduate, I have a lot of respect for UMich, and while I wouldn’t say it is better than UIUC, I would say it is on par with it, and it really just comes down to the individual programs. In EE, Illinois is better, but that doesn’t hold true in other engineering disciplines. They may be a conference rival, but professionally, I consider the Michigan to be an approximately equal program.</p>
<p>Wasn’t too impressed with WashU engineering. They don’t seem to hold their engineering program in high regard (I’ve only heard people flock there for pre-med and business). I only know 2 people who went there for engineering and they both got decent jobs, but nothing you wouldn’t expect to get from State U.</p>
<p>I’m a rising senior in EE from UIUC. As most of the people have already commented, ECE at UIUC is a superb–and rigorous–program. It didn’t really dawn on me until my junior year when I started taking more advanced classes and doing research. </p>
<p>With that said, UMich has a great engineering program as well. If you think, for some reason, that you might not want to do engineering, I would go to Michigan. Also, if you’re looking for a setting that is more cosmopolitan with more to do, go to Michigan. One thing to keep in mind is that UIUC has an extremely high in-state student population, so get used to meeting a lot of students from the Chicago suburbs. </p>
<p>I agree with the OP that there are many incompetent people here. As with any college, however, this is something you’ll learn to love and hate at the same time. You’ll hate it when you want to focus on academics, you’ll love it when you go partying and drinking.</p>
<p>I guess to kind of add to easternboarder’s statement about in-state students, it is true that somewhere around 60% of UIUC is from Chicago, and another 10% or so are from the rest of Illinois (if I remember my statistics correctly), but this is very typical of state schools. The engineering department is still very diverse, though, and I have many friends from across the country and across the globe. The scene at UMich would only be slightly better off, and that is only because it is the same size of school but in a smaller state, and also draws from Chicago, which helps dilute its in-state populations.</p>